In Serious Trouble

[Becky Lyons]

Hi everyone...
I am a first timer here on Doggie Bag, but I used Doggie Door quite a bit. Thanks to the founder of this site!
Here's the deal: Porky is a 14 month-old Beagle Husky mix. He is also my little baby, quite comparable to a child for me. Porky's old routine included sleeping inside (not in a crate) and playing in our fenced in yard all day (with proper shelter, food, and water). However, a few weeks ago, he learned how to either climb or jump over the fence, and he began wreaking havoc on the neighborhood. He broke a table in the neighbors yard, he poops everywhere, etc. Now, we still dont know how he gets out...he knows we dont like it and waits until we are gone or not looking to get out.
Anyhow, since we had to pay for the broken table and the neighbor threatened to call the pound, we tied him up (using a harness). However, a different neighbor got sick of him crying and barking and just let him loose (came INTO our yard and let him out!). So the next day I put him in his crate in the garage (leftover from puppyhood). However, he NEVER learned to like his crate, and cried and barked so much all day yesterday that the neighbor called ANIMAL CONTROL!!! My husband was home by that time, and the officer told us that Porky was obviously healthy and there was nothing wrong. However, he also told us that, no matter what, if he is called again, Porky will have to go!!!! So our neighbor hates Porky b/c he barks and is loud, and now he has control over whether I get to keep my dog. :mad:
ANyhow, so we decided to keep him in the house, since he does ok at night. However, now I have lots of questions...
1. Should I put him in his crate while we are at work?
2. Will he ever get to like the crate if we are consistent and put him in it every day?
3. Is there any way I can get him to like it now that he is older?
4. Since he will be in the crate all day, do I put food and water in it with him?
5. How many times a day should Porky go out?
6. HOw far should I walk him when I do?
7. Is there any way I can let Animal Control be aware of the situation that our neighbor just hates the dog and is trying to manipulate the situation?
Sorry for all the questions, I am in real trouble. If this doesn't work, Porky will most likely be sent to the pound by my beyond-fed-up husband.
Thanks everyone,
Becky

[aussiesmum]

First things first, you need to speak to your neighbors. Explain to them that you realize your pup is a problem and you are going to start working immediatley on a solution. However, because your dog was used to a particular routine, it will take time. Explain that you know he is being loud, but until you can get him settled, it will not stop over night. You need to do this so that you speak to and your neighbors know that YOU KNOW there is a problem. I think a lot of times those issues can be solved by just talking (and besides, if it gets worse, you can fall back on the fact that you talked to them already).

About animal control, I don't know what happened or what you said the last time they came, but it might warrant talking to the person who actually came out and explain the situation. Now they are going to simply see it as neighbors who don't like each other, and that's fine. Like speaking with your neighbors, the important thing is getting it out there (and making notes about all of it) to solve the problem later. I hate neighbors who complain about barking dogs, but they exist :(

As for WHAT to do, is it possible to put him inside a laundry room or a kitchen that is safe? If he hates his crate, putting him in there isn't going to solve the problem. You can "fix" the situation, but it takes time and energy. inside containment saves your nighbors the trouble, but also makes the adjustment easier for Porky.

Can you find a dog walker? Always remember, a tired dog is a good dog. So if you can give him a good walk in the morning, plus a mid-day walk followed by a stuffed kong, he should get enough exercise to be tired. I imagine he was jumping the fence because he was BORED. [by walk I mean exercise. Even a 30min fetch session in your yard is fine, but he needs to be physically and mentally stimulated!]

Aussie gets a walk in the AM, plus a midday walk from a walker, plus an evening walk. She gets fed in the AM and in the evening. She gets water in the morning, at the midday and in the evening. Whatever schedule you have for your pup with food I wouldn't adjust.

Just remember, your dog is more than likely bored so fixing that should fix the problem. How you fix that is a bit of trial and error, but if you can, I think the best solution is to find a dog walker and also giving your pup more play time!

[Becky Lyons]

Lori, thank you for your advice. I have definitely upped his walking time to about 3 miles (5K) in the morning so he will get tired. He did really well yesterday, but this morning when I let him out to potty on his leash, he chewed through it. People keep telling me to get a bark collar (shock collar). It sounds terrible; is that humane? Also, we still want to crate him...is there anything we can do to make him like the crate now? He sees it as punishment now (he HATES to be confined at all) and stays away from it at all costs. I put yummy food in it yesterday, but he wouldnt even go in to eat until I left the room for fear I would close the door.
Thanks again for all your help. I feel like we went right back to square one. He is having trouble figuring out that he only potties at certain times now and not when he wants (he had an accident on the rug), and everytime I let him out to potty, he tries everything he can to escape. I feel like I am trying to control the uncontrollable. Is it mean to keep a dog who wants to be free in the house all day?

[heathea]

Did he chew through his leash while you were walking him?

At this point I would immediately look for a trainer to help you through this and implement NILIF (in articles section) immediately. I know you love your dog and that he is like your child, however you are going to need to train him so he knows what you want from him which will lead to a much happier dog.

As for crate training you cannot stuff a dog in a crate for 8 hours the first time and expect him to like it. He didn't like it there and associates it with a bad experience and doesn't want more bad experiences. You are going to need to slow down immediately with the crate, or you risk traumatizing your dog regarding crate training.

There must be an area in your home that is indoors (quieter for neighbor) that you can either close doors to keep him safe or purchase baby gates (if he can jump over them, you will need to get at least 2 per doorway, 1 on top of another). You should put the dog in there with water and toys which include good things like a kong with frozen plain yogurt in it (distracts him while licking) or stuffed with kibble. Or even both. Keep up your walking in the morning and see if you can either pay someone to walk your dog once during the day and have your husband walk the dog as soon as he gets home.

These are just things I am suggesting, I would seriously look into taking your dog to a trainer to help inform you how to train your dog. It will be cheaper than buying tables or rescuing your dog from the pound, at least in the long run and I found it worth every penny. I knew nothing about caring for a dog, I thought just loving it would be enough, I was wrong, they need much more than that.
Take care and good luck.
-Heather

[heathea]

Also, I say definately NO on the barking collar. They don't really work all that well and your dog is getting a lot thrown at him in a short time.

Unfortunately you are just not going to be able to leave your dog outside unsupervised anymore. I know that sounds cruel to you now, however it is a lot less cruel than having your dog put down for roaming.

I don't know if you have had problems with your neighbor before this, however after having a table broken (it was good of you to replace it, though) and poop in their yard they were probably a little irritated. They may have actually been concerned about your dog thinking it was trapped, I know this is not what you would do, but I am just looking at it from their side. Or they might just be insane jerks...who knows, but I try to give the benefit of the doubt.

I wish you luck, and I hope you can find a good trainer that will help you teach your dog what it is you want from him. It will be a lot of work but definately worth it.

Good luck.
-Heather

[Andre Mendizabal]

Oh Becky, those beagle features are just kicking in :D . First of all I back up Heather's advice on getting a trainer or getting him to doggie school... beagles definitely need some education or they'll go doing their own thing all over the place. Then, everybody will tell you shock collar is a no-no, if you have problems walking your dog you can search for alternative accesories, I don't have experience with it but I've heard good stuff about the halter and other collars. About the crate, getting him used to it at this point is going to be a real hard work. Why don't you start with an ex-pen or a confined area like Heather adviced. The exercise idea is great, I don't walk my beagle in the morning but we do have a 30 -40 min. session of fetch and that tires her up quite a bit... mental stimulation is also very important so you can get some interactive toys and leave them for Porky to entertain himself while you are out. Dog walker is a great idea, not only will it provide the exercise they need at the middle of the day but they provide stuffed kong, treat ball or other toys Porky might be interested in, and will keep Porky from getting bored in the afternoon. Talking to your neighbors is an excellent idea. If you guys aren´t following the NILIF program, use it, it gives the dog security, confidence and estability. If you can, raise your fence... and, finally, please send some pics, I have a beagle and husky and loved to see how the mix turns out!!!!! ;)

Ok, good luck and have patience with little buddy, beagles are very smart dogs, specially when food is involve so try to train with a super yummy treat... and let us know how he does....
:cool:

[Chris Smith]

I agree with everyone's ideas and suggestions. It also sounds like, at this point, your dog is very stressed out. And you will need to change his routine which will stress him out even more. It is very difficult to crate train an older dog and especially after his experiences with the crate so far have not been good. I wound't even try that right now.

1. Establish a new routine with him where he gets sufficient exercise before he is left as well as being told to go potty (so he gets used to letting it out before he is inside for several hours).
2. Leave him in a safe, dog proof area (double gates, closed doors, no wires, cords, no trash, everything off counters, etc.) with the windows closed and music playing - both will block out sound that could get him to bark. Also, classical music can lull them to sleep. Have his bed in there and water.
3. Leave him with a couple of chew toys and interactive toys (stuffed kongs, kibble filled balls, etc)
4. Have someone come walk him after 4 hours so he gets to pee and gets some more exercise and attention.
5. Figure out how he is getting out of your fenced yard.
6. Give him lots of attention and exercise when you get home.

[Becky Lyons]

Hi everyone-
I am happy to report that we are adjusting very nicely to life as an indoor dog. It was a bit shaky there at first, but I think we are getting used to it. We have a routine in place now, and Porky has shown us this week that he is mature enough to have the whole kitchen and living room while we are gone as long as we remember to puppy proof it (this is good husband training as well...pick up those dirty dishes!). We also implemented NILIF, and are having 2 long exercise sessions and one 30 minute obedience training session daily. It's so weird...he learned shake and roll over in two days!!! He is just way smarter than I thought! I have to admit that I like him being inside all the time as well. He doesnt smell like garbage, I always know what he's eaten when he's eaten it, and he is a lot more cuddly :D .
So thanks for your advice...it just takes patience and time. We are still unsure what will happen over the weekend, but we plan to talk to the neighbors, let them know we are training him, and apologize for the inconvenience (as hard as it will be!). We are also going to take advantage of their awareness to do some outside training where he might bark and be annoying to them. I was really scared for a few days that I might have to give my Porky up, but I think we are going in the right direction now!
Thanks again!
Becky
PS Pics coming soon...he is really a cute dog!

[heathea]

I am very happy for you. It sounds like a big change that you and him are handling very well. I couldn't be more pleased. I am sure Porky is super happy to know what you want from him, and I think you will all be much happier now.
Congratulations!
Take care,
-Heather

[Sherri]

I have a 7 month old Beagle mix. Baxter did not do well in a crate either, so we eventually took it down and locked him up in the kitchen.. He then learned how to climb out of every gate we got (we went through 3 different styles of gates..) We finally let him have the run of the house (of course puppy proofed :)) because he had never destroyed anything when he had escaped.
We do want to re introduce him to the crate, but were not sure how to do it. What we finally did was put the crate in our bedroom and left the door open at all times so it was non threatning to him. We covered 3 sides of the crate with a blanket and put a nice padded surface at the bottom. He loves to sleep under our bed (our bed has a bed skirt), so we thought the "den" feel is what he liked and we could acheive that by covering almost all sides of the crate.
Last night we had a good break through, after 3 weeks of the crate being in our room.. Baxter finally slept in there for 1/2 the night. He then jumped up in our bed :) (I love a cuddly beagle).
Once he starts becoming more comfortable with being in the crate with the door open, we will shut the door for 2 minutes the first time, then keep adding more time from there. Hopefully this will work.
We are not so worried about him being crate trained for us, but when we go on vacation and can't take him, the crate will be a nice option for those that dog sit for us.
Good luck with your crate training.. If anyone else has different ideas, please share?

[heathea]

Its a little late now, but if you ever want to lock him in the kitchen again you can just use 2 gates on top of eachother. I have heard that works well.
Good luck,
Heather

[Andre Mendizabal]

Hi Heather, I used to lock my girl when she was younger in the laundry room, used those too gates one on the top of the other, she learned to climb them!!!!! :confused: Anyway, beagles are really unique dogs, mine learned how to climb and how to get outside through a window!!!! Anyway, she also hates her crate, I don't know if its a beagle thing but she rather be cuddling with us or with Molly... :D